Thai Navy SEALs barely escaped after pump failure in cave rescue

By

Daniel Uria

Four members of the Royal Thai Navy SEALs give a thumbs-up Tuesday after rescuing 12 boys of a local soccer team and their coach who were trapped in the Tham Luang Cave network in Northern Thailand. Photo by Royal Thai Navy SEALs | License Photo

Members of the Royal Thai Navy are pictured with 12 boys and their coach, who were trapped in the Tham Luang Cave network in Northern Thailand. Screengrab via Thai Navy SEALs | License Photo

July 11 (UPI) -- Thai navy SEALS barely escaped after clearing a flooded cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach were rescued, the Thai military said Tuesday.

The main pump that had been siphoning millions of gallons of rain water out of the Tham Luang Nang Non cave failed just as rescuers extracted the soccer coach and the four navy Seals, Thai military sources told ABC News.

The Thai military said the pumps lasted just long enough to successfully rescue the final four boys and their soccer coach as the third chamber began to fill with water, followed by the first and second, while crews scrambled to make their way out of the cave safely.

Military personnel and civilians quickly abandoned the cave and left behind hundreds of air tanks, some of which belonged to the SEALs and others which were donated by King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun.

"This morning, I promised to take nine people out. We're a success now," the chief of the rescue operation Narongsak Osottanakorn said during a news conference. "We have done something that no one expected that we could complete. It was an impossible mission."

Narongsak also expressed his appreciation for the support provided by the king and global observers who followed the story.

"I would like to say thank you to His Majesty and royal family to support us," he said. "I am thankful for all support from Thai people and all around the world."